Dear Editor,

I was troubled by a letter by David DeGroot captioned “PPP has been and remains multi-cultural and working class” (GC 07.10.09) in which Mr. Dennis Wiggins is attacked for being ‘openly racist’. Mr. DeGroot is wrong about Mr. Wiggins and he should retract his statement.

I read Wiggins’ letter captioned “The PNCR must develop a strategy to attract disaffected Indian voters” several times and found not the slightest trace of any racialized pandering. On the contrary, Wiggins’ critique of Tacuma Ogunseye is actually thoughtful.

Now, I do have to say that I am not in agreement with some of Wiggins’ main arguments. Wiggins is, himself, on thin ice when he refers to “PPP/C’s authoritarian attitude with racial overtones to governance…” Lines like these are just rituals of opposition political discourse. They are employed to show which side the writer is on and by so doing, renew the intellectual capital of the writer viz- a-vis his/her political constituency. But we are dealing with politics, and so no one should be shocked. It is part of the trade.

There is, however, a lot more in Wiggins’ thinking. Allow me to note just two of them.

Firstly, he states that the PNCR is a national political party, and as such it should behave like one.

This is an astute observation, ordinary though it may seem. In effect, Wiggins is saying that cultural nationalist groups like ACDA can be expected to be ethnically partisan, but a national party like the PNCR should aim to win the confidence of the general population. I am not sure if Mr. DeGroot finds this offensive. If yes, he should explain what so pains him about this formulation. Secondly, Wiggins is actually appealing to the PNCR to specifically recruit Indians into the party. This is another astute argument because unlike most ethnic nationalists, Wiggins refuses to accept the position that everything is racialized. Put differently, Mr. Wiggins is suggesting that while Guyana’s politics are influenced by issues of racial identity, Indians and Africans are not forever locked into racialized political practices.

The same way in which Africans vote for the PPP/C, Indians can vote for the PNCR. The challenge is for the PNCR to recognize this political opening, and to then embark on a long term strategy of broadening its electoral base. I cannot fathom why an argument such as this should be tossed into the trash as DeGroot advises.

Although I often disagree with Dennis Wiggins on Guyana’s politics, I think he is one of the more thoughtful and constructive writers. He has been able to comment on big issues facing Guyana, and this, without attacking anyone personally.

Yours faithfully,

Dr. Randolph B. Persaud